The Unseen Weight of Survival

In the quiet corners of a restless night,
Where shadows dance and dreams take flight,
I wrestle with the echoes of my heart,
An unyielding ache, a world torn apart.
The most difficult lesson, this burden I bear,
Is the endless need to survive, stripped bare.

Each morning greets me with a heavy sigh,
A reminder that life will not pause, nor comply.
The sun rises bright, indifferent to my plight,
While I lay entangled in a struggle, a fight.
Oh, how my heart aches, a deep, hollow thrum,
Yet the world keeps spinning; I must succumb.

I mourn the whispers of those I have lost,
Each memory a ghost, a bittersweet cost.
And when tears cascade like a relentless rain,
I wear my smile as armor against the pain.
For life, it seems, demands I press on,
A silent soldier, when all hope feels gone.

But who prepared me for this solemn truth?
That survival often means wearing a mask of youth,
Pretending I’m whole when I feel so frail,
Hiding my struggles, a fragile, silent...